September
- We presented the work we expect to accomplish during the fall to our peers in CIV 495 and a general timeline of how the work will progress throughout the semester.
- Our group launched the project website that serves as a basis to inform the general public about our project statement, progress, and contact information.
- We have obtained the rainfall data for the USGS gauge located on campus and done a preliminary delineation of the watershed around Holman in order to determine where to dig for our soil sampling.
- Our group purchased 10 feet of PVC piping to construct our monitoring well for the groundwater table which we will cut down to six feet and perforate for effective monitoring. Progress on the actual digging is being stalled due to TCNJ utilities being located in multiple areas we have proposed for digging.
- We have been in contact with the Campus Architect, Lynda Rothermel, an Administrative Services and Customer Support Specialist at TCNJ facilities, Karen Haftl, and the Director of Buildings and Grounds, Edward Gruber. Ms. Rothermel provided a campus topographic map and utilities CAD drawings. We have been coordinating with Ms. Haftl and Mr. Gruber in order to begin our digging to obtain soil samples.
October
- Our group presented our research on the codes, regulations, standards, and realistic constraints that we will encounter throughout the project to our CIV 495 class. This information will affect how we design our facilities and conduct testing
- After waiting roughly two weeks from our expected dig date for PSE&G to do an official markout of utilities in the area next to the fire lane where we intended to take our samples, we were able to obtain samples of the soil. We realized after attempting to dig in multiple locations that the soil consisted of mostly granular fill. We were able to dig no deeper than roughly 5' in multiple spots due to either rocks or a dense clay layer at that depth.
- We oven dried a sample of the granular soil overnight and on the 24th prepared the sample for a sieve analysis. Instead of crushing the particles to separate the fines from the granular soil we used a 200 sieve to drain the fine particles from the sample.
- A large scale version of the topographical map was obtained using a plotter at the Delaware River Basin Commission. From this map the watershed was delineated. We have a planimeter that will be used to determine the area of the watershed.
November
- After the presentation of our progress to the rest of the senior class was completed the geotechnical team proceeded to re-analyze the soils particle size distribution for every foot. This gave us five curves. Based on the data we were able to determine a more accurate percent finer for each sample we obtained.
- The geotechnical team also conducted Atterberg Limits tests on each of the five samples. Based off of the results of the particle size distributions, the liquid limit, and the plasticity index the soil was classified as clayey and silty.
- The hydrologic team completed the HEC-HMS evaluation of the watershed which resulted in the determination of the peak discharge from the watershed and the total runoff volume for the 100 year design storm.
- Once the data collection was completed the entire team presented the data results to the rest of the senior class on December 4th.